Inextricable
Chapter Five: Exhalations

Winry's head was spinning as she walked out of the hospital, paperwork in hand confirming her new status as a surgical apprentice. Who knew the Rockbell name was so powerful? She'd known her grandmother's reputation, of course, but that it reached all the way to Central and with such authority was... surprising.

Her new sensei had known her parents, too, and she knew that this connection had been influential as well. Her parents, after all these years, had still managed to take care of her.

"You'll just observe during the first installation surgery. I'll quiz you to determine how much you already know and where I need to concentrate on your training," Doctor Grantham, her new sensei, had explained. "Then you'll start assisting."

And Ed had helped. "Oh, you're his automail mechanic!" the doctor had exclaimed, leaning over her desk to shake Winry's hand. "I missed meeting you on your previous visits here, but I've heard nothing but praise for your work. The Fullmetal Alchemist's automail is something of a legend around here."

She hadn't followed-up on that with any questions. She knew Ed had been in and out of the hospital a great deal, and she'd been in and out with him on several occasions, repairing. It wasn't just Ed's automail that was something of a legend at Central City Hospital.

Okay, that's the first step taken, she thought. Now to tell Ed.

- - - - - - - - -

"That circle, sir," Scieszka said. "I know where it's from." She slapped the book down in front of Edward, her finger marking the page. "Right here."

Ed stared at the page and felt the blood drain from his face as his eyes widened in shock. Oh, shit.

Maria Ross pushed past Scieszka at that moment, her face as white as Ed knew his own must be. "Sir, I need to talk to you—"

"I need to talk to you, too. And you, Scieszka," Ed interrupted, gesturing for the captain to take a seat. "You go first."

"I found her, sir," Ross said. "The woman in the alley. On a list of missing and unaccounted-for alchemists."

Oh, shit! "Missing for how long?"

"Three months. She's not a state alchemist, but she'd been working for the military as a civilian researcher since before the war."

Ed could've screamed. Instead, he said, "Let me guess who recruited her."

"Sir..."

"General Basque Gran, the Iron Blood Alchemist."

Ross looked, if possible, even more pale. She nodded. "Sir, what's going on?"

"I can't be certain, but I think I had what happened in the alley backwards." Why is this happening now? Why can't the past just stay dead? "I don't think a chimera was being created."

"Then what...?"

"I think she was trying to unmake a chimera."

"The hyena? But—" Ross blurted.

"She was the chimera. She was trying to untangle herself from the hyena. That's why the circle was on the wall and not the ground; that's why she was in an alley and not a lab. She may have been driven mad by the change. Probably was in a lot of pain — scared, lost, desperate." He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. It was all there. I just didn't see it! "It took time to draw that circle. It may have been she stopped in the first place she found that seemed like safety and then started trying to fix what was done to her. On instinct."

"But how did she become a chimera in the first place?" Ross asked.

It was a rhetorical question, or, at least, Ed intended to treat it that way. Instead of answering, he turned to Scieszka. "Where did you get this book? How did it survive the library fire?"

"Uhm, are you angry?" Scieszka asked, hesitant now that he seemed more upset than delighted by her findings.

"No," he said reassuringly, spinning his own shock so that he wouldn't lose precious time having to placate hurt feelings. "I'm just surprised is all. I mean, I've never seen this book, but—"

"I had it," she confessed. "I'd borrowed it and then I didn't get it back as soon as I should have and then the library burned down and then you were gone—"

Ed closed his eyes again, wondering how he'd missed this book before Scieszka absconded with it. It's exactly the sort of thing I was looking for, after all... But even in the State Library, there were special collections. Hidden collections. Secrets inside of secrets. Damn Gran anyway.

And here was another piece of Gran's mad lust for power. Unbelievable that this book had ever made it into the State Library's collection in the first place.

One look had told him whose work it was — it was impossible to mistake the crazed, amoral theories of Shou Tucker — but this book had more than just the dead alchemist's theories explicated. It had charts, circles, and concepts, all in plain language. So crazy, he didn't even bother to encode his work anymore... He just spelled out the ways and means.

This was Gran all over, preserving and encouraging Shou Tucker's amoral alchemy. Mixing and twisting anything just to see what the results would be, no matter the cost.

Oh, God, what if this is part of some plan! What if someone's trying to continue Gran and Tucker's work...

Whatever had happened to turn the dead woman into a chimera — and it's far too much to hope that she's a closed loop, turning herself into a chimera and destroying herself for us — he had to find out and fast.

- - - - - - - - -

Edward arrived late for dinner, looking exhausted. The sight of him in uniform stunned Winry into speechlessness for several moments, and it wasn't until he'd tossed the long, blue coat aside and rolled up his shirt sleeves to help wash up the dishes after the meal that she was able to feel completely comfortable around him again.

Whatever his case was, it had already begun haunting him. She wanted to ask — to help in some way — but the grim line of his mouth and the closed inwardness of his gaze silenced her. Al would know what to say to begin the slow, careful process of prying the truth loose from Ed; all Winry felt she'd ever been able to do was start arguments.

Gracia-san sent Elysia off to do her homework, then made her own excuses, leaving them alone to do the washing-up. Apparently, she didn't think that this evening was a bad time for Winry to make her announcement.

Winry brewed coffee, strong and ink-black, with no milk or sugar to cut the taste. Just the way Ed liked it. She'd also picked up a small box of Ed's favorite cookies on her way around.

"Let's talk, okay?" she said, as they finished up the dishes. His eyes flickered to the preparations she'd made then back to her face, and she could see him understand that she wanted to talk about something, and not just talk.

"Sure," he replied. He poured out two cups of coffee and carried them to the table, moving the cream and sugar toward Winry in silent acknowledgement of her own preferences.

Dive right in, I guess, she thought. "I'm not just here for a visit, Ed."

He took a sip of the coffee, muttering, "That's good, thanks." It was the closest she was likely to get to a "go on," so she took it as encouragement.

"I'm moving here. Opening my own automail shop. I've arranged an apprenticeship at the hospital to help me improve my installation skills. And I'm going to start looking for someplace to open the shop tomorrow."

Ed took another sip of his coffee, his expression even more closed than before. "Why are you doing this?" he asked after a long silence.

"It's time," she replied. She fiddled with her own coffee, stirring it nervously. "Granny's taught me all she knows, and there's no real need for two full-fledged automail mechanics in Rizembool. I can't get the medical training I need there, either. And..."

Their eyes met, both of them shielding their feelings as best they could. God, between the two of us, I have no idea who'd win a "most stubborn" contest, Winry thought. "I want to be closer to my best friend," she finished, almost whispering the confession.

A crooked smile cracked Ed's serious façade, and he looked away for a moment. Is he blushing!

"Yeah, well," he said, meeting her eyes again. "If that's what you want, then I'm really happy."

"Really?" Winry asked, her eyes widening in surprise at the ease of this conversation. She'd expected yelling. Lots of yelling.

"Really. I've missed you, Win," he said, grinning at her. "And I'm no good at being by myself. If there's one thing the last couple of years taught me, it's that I need my friends and family around, or I'm a mess."

Winry wasn't sure how to deal with this. Arguing and overreactions she could handle; this was something new. What did happen to Ed while he was gone? His hair had grown several inches, and he himself had grown a couple, but he hadn't spoken about his lost years except, maybe, to Al. She wondered if he'd ever tell her, but whatever had happened, she knew she was seeing the results now.

Ed stood up and stretched. "Okay, then. I'm glad we talked."

"Where are you going?" Winry asked, frowning as she, too, stood.

"I have to go back to work. This investigation's a disaster, and I don't want it getting any worse. Ross and I are going to go over everything we have so far and see if we can't find an angle."

Winry squelched a flicker of jealousy over Ed spending time alone with another woman — okay, a motherly type, but still attractive — and nearly blushed at this reaction.

"Denny's going to run errands for us," Ed continued. "Keep us supplied with coffee and all that. I think Scieszka's still there, but you know how she gets when she's researching." He pulled out his pocket watch and squinted at it. "I told them I'd be back in two hours, so I have to go now."

He picked up his coat and pulled it on, turning back into a soldier before her eyes, then turned with another crooked smile and said, "I'll crash at the dorm tonight, but maybe we can have lunch tomorrow? You can tell me how your building search is going."

"Sure," Winry whispered, following him to the door. He gave a little wave and was gone, and she closed the door slowly, leaning back against it in some sort of shock. "What just happened?" she breathed.

"Looks like Ed's grown up," Gracia-san said, stepping into the room, a poorly-suppressed smile on her face.

"I just thought he'd be so upset! He always used to get so upset when I tried to help or be close to him or—"

"Things just aren't the same anymore, Winry-chan," the woman explained gently. "Alphonse-kun is okay now. Ed-kun doesn't have some impossible mission he's on. He has a future. I don't think he ever thought that would happen to him."

In a daze, Winry walked back to the kitchen, sat down, and took a sip of her coffee. Gracia-san poured her own cup — eyebrows shooting up as she saw how strong it was — and sat down across the table from her.

"I feel like I've been holding my breath for years," Winry said. "And he just made me realize I can let it out. If Ed feels he can breathe, now, then... anything's possible."